Professional Issues

SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt calls for the commission’s
greater influence over FASB to ensure it addresses urgent topics and
issues standards more swiftly than it has. He also says the commission
will quickly establish a private-sector regulatory body—composed
largely of individuals independent of the accounting profession—to
replace the Public Oversight Board. And reaffirming the importance of
effective corporate governance, Pitt says, the SEC is asking Congress
for the power to bar officers and directors—if guilty of serious
malfeasance or nonfeasance—from similar positions in other public
companies. ( www.sec.gov/news/speech/spch540.htm
)